Fibre Extrusion Technology of Leeds, UK has launched an upgraded range of bespoke equipment used in the manufacture of specialist yarns for composites. This coincides with a £1 million investment in its in-house Process Development Laboratory which allows client trials, proof of concept testing, collaborative research, sampling and prototyping.
Established in 1998, Fibre Extrusion Technology is a specialist supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems with installations in over 30 countries. This equipment is suitable for the development and small volume production of pre-cursor synthetic textile materials used in the manufacture of high performance composites.
In particular, FET systems are capable of working with exotic and difficult-to-process polymers which are frequently those used in composite structures. These include so-called “engineering polymers” such as PPSU, PEI, PEEK and PC Polycarbonates. FET systems are also suitable for processing sustainable polymer types (S-Polyamides, PLA, PHA, S-Pet etc.), which means they are ideal for the production of bio-degradable composite materials.
The FET-100 Pilot Series offers considerable flexibility with interchangeable production formats:
FET-100 Extrusion
FET-101 Multifilament
FET-102 Nonwoven
FET-103 Monofilament
FET-100 systems can be specified to be multi-functional, allowing easy and fast conversion between material formats. It configures to all combinations of multifilament, monofilament and melt spinning of nonwoven structures as required. A particular speciality can be found in melt blowing viscous materials into nonwoven web structures for use as composite veils.
Extrusion module options include multi-polymer capability, bi-component, tri-component and can be specified for high temperature capability and corrosion resistant construction. The bi-component systems are ideally suitable for yarn engineering and particularly in sheath core format. This facilitates the inclusion of functional materials into the polymer matrix.
Where melt spinning solutions cannot succeed for technical reasons, there is the option of the pilot and small scale production FET-200 wet spinning systems. These may be used for a variety of solvent and polymer combinations and have the capability of producing pre-cursor yarns for composite manufacture.
